Rapture
by melange
Summary: an event years after the close of the series... needs work... not well polished...


=RAPTURE=  
  
His age was young but his body was past its prime. Once he   
was the best young hacker in all of Tokyo. He was so   
skilled that he broke into government databases whilst   
avoiding detection by the much vaunted information  
surveillance center. So skilled that he was once an   
informal member of the long defunct Knights of the Eastern   
Calculus, being too young to be endowed a full Knight. His   
Wired persona struck terror in the hearts of lesser   
hackers...  
  
Now he lay on his bed, eyes battered by years of staring   
intently at navi screens, his health buffeted by neglect   
and the near daily consumption of accela which he used to   
enhance his abilities. Day after day he had consumed it,   
craving the boost of speed it gave him, craving the   
nano-chemical high that would help him in his search...  
  
Even now as he coughed his heaving lungs, his eyes still   
darted and flickered from point to point, as if still   
feverishly seeking that which he had been looking for all   
his life. It started when one day as he was crossing the   
road with his two best friends, he noticed a fleeting image   
that flashed across the screen of his handheld navi. It was   
a visage of a young girl. He knew her, yet he could not   
recall her, could not describe her. It was as if he felt   
the glimmer of a non-existent memory at the edge of his   
perception, just there so close but it drew away whenever   
he reached out to pull it back...  
  
Since that day he had been searching, searching for her,   
searching to find out who she was, why he felt that he   
recognized her. Day and night he searched, diving through   
seas of chaotic information seeking an answer that hovered   
so close to him, but never finding it. Unfulfilled he drove   
himself on, straining to the breaking point... and the   
search had taken its toll... The overdose of accela had   
wrecked him, yet he could not seek medical help for it was   
a banned substance. Now he tottered on the edge.  
  
He coughed again, but suddenly he felt a presence...   
Someone else was here! His eyes darted around the room.   
There was noone... yet there was that presence... floating   
about the room. Then something drew his eyes towards the   
corner of the ceiling... and then he saw! He saw Her! The   
one he has been searching for all this while. She was here!   
Straining his chapped lips, he whispered, "I see her! I see   
her!" as a wonderous sight unfolded before his eyes...  
  
He saw a brilliant light shrouding a figure in its glory.   
It was a young girl, with dark brown hair that hung in a   
graceful lock down the left side of Her face, a familiar   
'X' rubber band held it in place. He gazed upon Her visage   
in amazement, She still looked as She did so long ago when   
She appeared on the screen of his handheld navi for that   
one fleeting moment, as if time had frozen eternally for   
Her. It was then the locked away memory returned and he   
remembered...  
  
"L...Lain...", he mouthed softly, mumbling the   
long-forgotten name that had left its indellible inprint   
upon his mind. The girl smiled softly, acknowledging him.   
Instantly he felt a welcome warmth bath his body. "Lain..."  
, he whispered again as She reached Her hand out towards   
him, palm facing upwards, beckoning him to come...  
  
He stretch his shaking arm out, feeling it tremble as his   
body's weakness was overcome by a rush of sudden vitality   
that surged through his veins like how accela used to.   
Slowly his fingers reached towards Her's. She nodded,   
silently encouraging him with Her benevolent smile. The   
edges of their fingers' brushed and with a renewed vigor,   
his hand closed around Her soft hand. Her strong, young   
arms gripped his as She smiled again at him, strength   
flowing through their linked arms infusing him. Joyful   
tears trickled down his face as happiness and bliss filled   
his soul and he felt complete...  
  
"Let's go, Taro...", She said as she gently pulled him   
towards the brilliant digital light...  
  
**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****  
  
by melange  
melange@nervhq.org  
connect.to/digitalangel  
  
all characters are copyrighted to Pionerr/LDC.  
  
RAPTURE -   
The belief held by many conservative Christians that   
Christ will soon appear in the sky and that all of saved   
individuals, both living and dead, will rise to meet him.  
- www.babylon.com  
  



End file.
